macnn

01/31/2008, 6:15pm, EST

Thursday, January 31st

Patents: AAC audio, hierarchical menu items

The US Patent and Trademark Office today published 11 of Apple's patent applications. Among the 11, a patent regarding AAC audio bit allocation, as well as one pertaining to hierarchical menus stand out. Apple has presented a concept for perceptual audio encoding, a bit allocation technique that is designed to reduce the size of a file by finding a perfect balance of quality versus compression. While Apple is developing the process to apply it to AAC, it could also be applied to MP3, AC-3, and WMA media formats.

Apple also patented a technique for nesting items hierarchically, which can be applied to pop up or drop down menus.


Filed under: industry, Apple
Other story tags: patent, AAC, menu, hierarchy

, , 1 comment, del.icio.us, slashdot, digg, buzz


1 comment
Reader Reactions (Please use <i></i> for italic text)

subscribe to comments
for this article




Expand All   Global Settings
That's where they went...
0
01/31, 11:25pm, EST
I guess Apple had to dumb down the dock and pull out the hierarchical menus until they got their patent... Just in time to PUT THEM BACK WHERE THEY BELONG in 10.5.2, hopefully REAL SOON.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Mar 2002
User is offline
Your Comments

In order to post comments: If you are a registered member, please login with your MacNN Forums username and password otherwise please uncheck the checkbox below.


Registered Member?
macnn forums login:

macnn forums password:

Not a member of the MacNN forums? Register now for free.

RSS Feeds

Have the latest content delivered to your desktop via RSS. Use the links below to get access to a specific blog, news, or reviews feed.



  MacNN -all

  MacNN Reviews

  MacNN Podcasts

  iPodNN

  Electronista

  Left Lane News

Click Now for Great Deals on FUJITSU Products!: Limited Time Offer on Lifebook Notebooks, Tablet PCs, and Ultra-Mobile PCs!

Get Special Offers on LENOVO Mobility Solutions!: TopSeller Desktops, affordable Notebooks, and much more while supplies last!

Get Special Rebates on SONY Mobility Solutions!: Synnex Resellers - Take advantage of Special Offers on a variety of Notebook series from Sony today!

Check out Rebates on MOTION COMPUTING Tablets!: Perfect for any Healthcare provider! Buy now and get rebates on Motion C5 and LE1700 Tablet PCs!

Get VMware Fusion for 50% off for ONE DAY ONLY!: Run Windows on a Mac without rebooting with VMware Fusion

Buy from The Apple Store, iTunes.com, Amazon.com, TechDepot, OfficeDepot, Computers4Sure, or donate.